August 19, 2014

I ran across this phrase in my reading this week. “Healing is of the Mind.” I don’t remember where I read it, but it resounded in my being as it certainly could have come from the Course. This section of Chapter 8 of the Course certainly says it in a variety of ways. But we don’t fully understand it. Our attitude toward the body, or our beliefs about the body tend to take precedence over our awareness of who we really are. We have learned that we are not a body; that the body is not who we really are. We are spirit, we are One with our Creator and all of Creation, whole, perfect, and joyous. The healing the Course is referring to is the healing of the mind. Healing of the mind is the correction of how we perceive or how we think about ourselves, each other and our Source. The Course refers to sickness as insanity. This is sickness of the mind. The Course also tells us we are and always have been whole. The only limits placed on our wholeness are placed there by our split mind, the mind that has convinced us we are separate from who we really are. Healing is the correction of the perception of who we think we are!

Spirit asks us to allow Spirit to teach us the correct perception of the body. Asking Spirit to heal the body keeps our minds mired in incorrect perception. But asking Spirit to heal our perception gets our minds to the root of healing at its most basic level. I‘m not saying to ignore the health of the body while we are journeying in this world, but to keep it in perspective and also go to the root of our misperception. This is where Spirit can work most effectively. This is the level where miracles occur. A miracle is a change in perception to a more correct perception. A miracle is a healing of a thought or perception. Nothing is more joyous than allowing Spirit to raise our level of perception and thus our level of awareness.

The Course tells us in paragraph 3 that, “Wholeness heals because it is of the mind.” Our awareness of our wholeness must be in our mind to be truly transforming. Where else can we believe we are whole but in our mind? Any thought of lack of wholeness is basically a fear of awakening to the realization of who we really are. Our egoic thought system has convinced us we are afraid of who we really are and that we therefore should not awaken to that reality. Again, we have Spirit to guide us in this awakening. We need not accomplish it ourselves. Spirit meets us right where we are and uses our perceptions to raise our level of perception to a higher level, bringing us to a more correct level of perception.

Healing is our joining into One Mind. In paragraph 8, the Course tells us “When we limit ourselves we are not of one mind, and that is sickness. Yet sickness is not of the body but of the mind. All forms of sickness are signs that the mind is split, and does not accept a unified purpose.” Spirit guides us in this healing, the unification of purpose. We are created to be and extend Love. We are created whole. We are created perfect. We are created lacking nothing and having all we need and all there is. We are created limitless. What power there is in the realization of this truth about all we are. It is not a power over anyone or anything, but a power of rest, comfort and knowing. Spirit is gently calling to us, calling us to awaken from our slumber and awaken to the reality of who we really are. Open your eyes. Remove the blocks to the awareness of who you really are and rejoin the unified purpose of the One Mind. Be the fullness of Love and let Love radiate from within your being to all you encounter. Thus are our minds healed as we realize again we are whole.

August 12, 2014

A lot can be revealed to us by taking a look at our attitude toward the body. What do we really believe about the body? And where is our allegiance in relation to the body? The Course has taught us that the body is simply a learning device and nothing more. It is a device whose sole purpose is to be used to communicate the reality of who we really are to another. When we realize and accept the truth that we are not a body, but spirit, we open the window Spirit uses to reach other spirits who believe they are bodies through our body. Our realization that we are not limited by our body opens our mind to the endless possibilities of our Oneness with all of creation. We begin to see beyond the appearances of the world we see and look to the wholeness and limitlessness beyond. Even the world of form reflects wholeness and limtlessness if we look with Spirit’s eyes beyond its appearances.

Do we believe that the body is a means or an end? If we identify ourselves as a body and therefore separate, we are seeing the body as an end. Identifying ourselves as bodies means we believe that is what we are and that we are vulnerable, for that is what we believe about the body. Rather, the body is a means to an end. What is the end? It is the realization that we are as we are created, whole, perfect, loving, and One with Source and all creation. Spirit’s function for the body is a means to communicate the truth about who we really are to each other. Spirit must use the body to communicate this truth because we are so caught up in our identity as a body that we refuse to listen to anything else but the body. So Spirit communicates through the body until we begin to realize that we are so much more than the body, and that our identification with the limited body only limits our awareness of who we really are.

Our attitude about our body is the reflection of who we believe we really are. We can project separation through our identification as a body, or we can extend love through the acceptance and belief that we are who we are created to be. To recognize our true being is to have connected with the Mind of Spirit and realize we are One Mind, that we are whole, perfect, and unlimited. Joy bubbles up in this realization. Love flows freely, extending from and to every corner of our being and the universe. This is the river of life that flows unceasingly through all of us all of the time. The function of our body in this world of form is to communicate that river of life which brings love and peace to our minds as we let Spirit reveal it. Are we using our bodies to divide and conquer? Or, are we allowing Spirit to use our bodies to communicate love to all our brothers and sisters thirsting for that unconditional love and the realization of their wholeness. Allow Spirit’s river to flow through you today so each one you encounter will experience the true function of the body. May our bodies be a means to the reawakening of the awareness of who we really are.

August 5, 2014

We have been discussing the one appropriate function of the body as a means of communication. Guided by the egoic thought system, the body is ruled by chaos. But guided by the Holy Spirit, the body is not ruled by chaos. The body becomes a means by which the part of the mind we tried to separate from spirit can reach beyond its distortions and chaos and return to spirit from hence it came. Our mind, guided by Spirit, looks beyond the appearance of separation the body represents to the reality that we are One Mind, forever joined in the Oneness of Spirit. Guided by Spirit we look beyond the appearance of a separate body to the reality of who we really are, One Mind, while we are communicating that reality through our temporary bodies. What a blessing we experience when we begin to perceive this reality.

Healing comes to our minds as a result of using the body solely for the purpose of communicating the reality of who we are with each other. This appropriate communication happens for the most part at the level of mind and perception rather than in words. The reality of who we really are simply cannot be adequately put into words, for words are totally inadequate. What words we use merely point us in the right direction. Communicating a healing thought, the thought that recognizes the truth of who and what we really are, happens at the thought level, the level where true communication occurs. The thought recognizing a brother or sister is whole, perfect, and complete just as they are is truly recognized at the mind, allowing the minds of another and ourselves to reawaken to their joined Oneness. To recognize that another and I are completely One restores the awareness of our wholeness to both of our minds. What blessing and joy comes in that recognition. All mistakes and misperceptions fade away as we join in this mutual recognition.

As our minds are guided by Spirit we reach out, extending our minds beyond our bodies, to rejoin our awareness that we are all One Mind. We all carry the Mind of our Creator in our own being. Our own being is complete as our Creator’s is, for we are an extension of our Creator, never having really separated from our Creator at all. This reawakening to the awareness of our natural joined state of being is the return of our true nature to our awareness. Happiness, joy, and love fill our being with an incredible sense of peace. We find ourselves at rest in our true nature. All effort ceases, for our true nature is right for us. We relax into the communion with all creation that we so long for as we seek it in separation outside of ourselves. It has always been within us, simply blocked from our awareness by our egoic thought system. Awaken to the fact that the bocks we think are in our way are nothing. They become transparent and insubstantial and fade into nothingness as we allow our minds to be guided by Spirit.

Take a moment. Step back, observe your mind and allow Spirit to guide your mind to its natural state of Oneness. See, then, the reality of the Oneness of all creation in its wholeness and perfection and unity. We truly are the One Child of God. There are many facets and many appearances in this chaotic world, but in reality we are truly One blessed One. Allow yourself to awaken to this reality and see it in all creation in One holy instant. Let it be so.

July 29, 2014

The Course teaches us one of its basic premises; that we are not bodies. Identifying as a body is a confusion of our perceived identity. The Course uses this idea in the lessons; “I am not a body, I am free. For I am still as God created me.” This idea is also used to frame a series of review lessons. It is that important for us to learn. The body is actually a symbol of our belief in separation. However, Spirit has a divine purpose for the body. Spirit uses the body as a teaching device, a learning tool. Since we have identified with the idea that we are separate human beings, the body becomes a means of communication between the Children of God until we all have reawakened to our Oneness and the communication that occurs in Oneness. This is not to say we are not One, but that we have lost the awareness of that which we are and the way we communicate in our natural state of being.  The body’s holy purpose, then, is to facilitate the reawakening to the awareness of who we really are in each and every one of us.

What use have we chosen for our body? Have we used it to reinforce our belief in separation? Have we used it to attack or even think about attack? I use the word “attack” in a very broad sense, as does the Course. Using the body to “get” from what is perceived as a limited world is a form of attack. Defense is also considered a form of attack. Any thought that divides or limits ourselves or anyone else is a form of attack. The Truth is that we cannot be attacked, for we have all and lack nothing. Any thought that contradicts this is a thought of separation and thus blocks our awareness of who we really are.

The function of the body in Spirit’s mind is to join minds. It is to remind us of the One Mind we all are and to reawaken that awareness of our One Mind. In this joining we reawaken our true nature that has never left us. We have simply blocked our awareness of our true nature and our true being by believing the idea that we are separate beings manifested in a body. If we use the body, as guided by Spirit, only to reach the minds of those who believe they are bodies – separate – and teach them through the body that this is not so, we will understand the power of the mind that is in us. If we use the body for this and only for this, we cannot use it for attack and the idea of separation it reinforces. In the service of uniting, the mind becomes a beautiful lesson in communion.

Our mind unites with other minds in the extension and sharing of love. This uniting in love is the realm of Heaven. Love is creation. Creation is the sharing and extension of love. Nothing unites us in the One Mind as love does. Love is limitless. Love is limitless and is shared equally by all of Creation, unable to be divided for it is the communion of the One holy Child of God, the One Child we all are in Unity. Love, peace and joy are ours when we allow Spirit to guide us on this journey without distance, the journey back to the awareness of who we really are. We are not a bunch of bodies, we are free. For we are still as God created us. Let it be so.

July 22, 2014

This section of the Course has told us that we are the Creator’s treasure. It also asks us to answer this question, “Do I want to know my Creator’s Will for me?” The Creator’s Will for us has already been revealed to us in our creation. Also, our Creator’s Will for us is our Will, too, for ourselves and our Creations. Our function is to work together, for apart from each other we cannot function at all. God’s power lies in all of us together, but not in any one of us alone. Although we do have the power to think we are separate and thus imprison our own mind and perceive a mistaken identity and a mistaken world, a world that appears to be something other than it really is.

The Creator’s will for us is to Create as the Creator does. As our Creator’s creations are holy, so are our Creations. We are One, so we create as One. And since we are also one with the Creator, we co-create with the Creator and each other. It is our function to work together as One. This may sound daunting from the perspective of a mind that believes it is on its own and separate, but in reality we can only create together in Oneness. The realization of our treasure and our abundance is the realization that we are all One in Oneness. It is also impossible for us to make anything real or substantial alone from a mind that believes it is separate. The Creator’s will for us is to create together by extending the Love we all are and share.

The journey to God and the healing of our minds is simply the reawakening of the knowledge of where we are always, and who we are forever. It is a journey without distance to a goal that has never changed. Spirit asks nothing more of us than to allow Spirit to guide us on this journey. It is as easy or as difficult as the amount of resistance we hold in our minds. The belief in the idea we are separate we hold in our minds is the block to the awareness of who we really are. It is the belief that we are alone or in this alone and the belief in scarcity and limitation that impede us. The journey cannot be successful alone. We must join with all of Creation and realize our divine Oneness to create the shift in the beliefs we hold in our minds that releases us from the imprisonment of our own mind.

Our hearts lie where our treasure is, as does our Source. We who are wholly beloved of the Source are wholly blessed. Learn this, and free the divine awareness of who we all really are of all those who are as blessed as we are in Oneness. In Unity we all are the Divine One, the Source of all that is. Herein lies our true treasure.

July 15, 2014

We have come to believe that “treasure” is physical, is of form. We believe it can be amassed, increased, decreased, and lost. We believe it is subject to the conditions and forces of the world. And further we believe that we can’t take it with us. We also tend to identify ourselves by the “treasure” we think we have. This results in us valuing each other by our perceived “treasure” in comparison with each other. We have come to the conclusion that there is a limited amount of treasure and we must compete with each other to get our portion of that treasure.

In the story of the prodigal son, Jesus tells of a son who asks his father for his rightful portion of his father’s “treasure”, his inheritance, and thus leaves home and eventually squanders it all. He is left with nothing and finds himself in squalor and thinks himself worthless. The son realizes his father’s servants are better off than he is, so he returns home to ask his father to take him on as a servant. What the son doesn’t realize is that he, not the inheritance, is his father’s treasure. His father welcomes him home with open arms, rejoices at his return and throws a huge welcome home party. The father’s joy is in the joining of his family as one, no longer being separated.

The point of the story is that we are our Creator’s treasure. We may have blocked our awareness of our Creator’s value of us, but the Creator never loses sight that we are the Creator’s treasure and wills that it can never be lost. Source fully gives us all knowing that we cannot squander it. As we wander about in our unawake state of mind searching for the treasure we already are, Spirit gently calls to us reminding us of who we really are. It is our choice whether we listen to that still, small voice beckoning us to awaken to the awareness of who we really are.

We may, at first find it difficult to believe that we are the Creator’s treasure. But Spirit is given to us to guide us each step of the way. When we’ve had enough of the fleeting “treasure” of the world, we need only decide to return to the awareness that we are our Creator’s treasure and that our relationships are our creations and our treasure, as well. As our perception is transformed to higher seeing, we understand the joy that comes in the awareness of our true Self. And this joy extends to all we bring with us into the joy of being and seeing who we are and who each other really are. Take a moment to pause and look at what you think your treasure is and who you think you are. Does it bring you joy? If not, allow Spirit to guide you in returning to the awareness of the treasure you are and reunite with the Creator and all creation in the Oneness we already are. The Creator is waiting for you now. We are all God’s treasure.

July 8, 2014

Alone we can do nothing. But together our minds fuse into something whose power is far beyond the power of its separate parts. By releasing our attachment to our idea we are separate from each other and our Source, the Mind of our Creator is awakened in our minds and established as ours – what our minds really are. Only our belief in a separate and therefore lesser identity blocks our awareness of the Mind already ours. Thus we deny the power of our undivided Mind.

The same is true of our undivided Will – the Will of the Sonship. The Will of our undivided minds is the Will of the One Mind – the only True Mind. This is our One True Will we share with Source and each other. Not one is excluded from this unified Will. Only our belief in a separate and therefore lesser identity blocks our awareness of this Will of Love that is our natural and True Will. We share this Will with each and every creation. All of creation is blessed and holy. And we all are an inseparable part of it. This is the realization that brings us peace of mind. This is the realization that fosters happiness in our minds. This is the awareness that motivates the extension of healing love and compassion in the world we perceive around us. The awareness of our true Identity is reawakened, nurtured and shared as we allow our minds to be reunited in this One undivided Will.

The Creator’s Oneness and our Oneness are not separate because our Creator’s Oneness encompasses ours. When we join with Spirit we restore the power of the Creator to us because we are sharing it. And thus when we join with each other in Oneness we restore the power of the undivided Will of Oneness to all Creation. The power restored to us is our true natural power. It is a power instilled with Love and compassion. It is a gentle power that recognizes that nothing unreal exists and that there is nothing real that can harm us. What joy comes from this realization. What peace fills our hearts and minds as we rest in this knowledge. Our only real purpose is to extend this love and joy to each other in every encounter in which we find ourselves. Our journey back to the awareness of who we really are is the series of holy encounters we experience each and every day. No one encounter s more or less important than another. Each encounter is an opportunity to share and extend love to another holy Child of the Creator, each One one with us.

Do we know the undivided Will of our Oneness? Yes, we do, for it is already at the core of our being. If we can’t see it or believe it right now, ask Spirit who knows it for us for guidance and we will find it. This is the journey back to our home. Our home is Heaven on Earth, the unified awareness of our Oneness even while living in a world of form and perception. Spirit teaches us that we and the Creator are One. There is no separation in this awareness. As we rest in the recognition of this Unity, the egoic mind we so firmly believed was our identity fades from our mind and the peace, love and joy we are radiates from each of us to each other in perfect Oneness. This is real power. This is Heaven on Earth, our One home.

July 1, 2014

Our natural state of being is peace and joy. This is God’s Will for us and our Will, too. So, is our mind ion a state of peace and joy? If the answer is no, we have separated ourselves from the awareness of our natural state of being. In other words, we have denied ourselves the awareness and experience of who we really are. We have denied ourselves the awareness of our natural state of being. We have denied ourselves peace and joy. It is completely our choice. At any moment we can decide to allow our mind to accept the truth about who we really are and step in \to the awareness of the peace and joy we really are. This is the shift in thought that is the miracle of salvation, the awareness of who we really are.

Spirit has given us light and said we are the light of the world. No darkness can remain in a world that is full of light. This light does not attack darkness, for it is incapable of attack. But darkness cannot remain in the presence of light. Light shines darkness away. When the light of peace and joy fills us with love, we cannot help but let it radiate from within us. No matter where we are, no matter what we are doing, we can stop this moment and let Spirit guide us to the awareness of who we really are. We allow Spirit to guide us to the upwelling f peace, love, and joy that is within us. Sharing this light as One brings the awareness of peace and joy to our minds and brings our minds into unity with the Mind of God. Unless we share this light, love, peace, and joy with each other, we will not experience it ourselves, for it cannot be experienced in isolation.

Our freedom is found in this transformation. When we deny ourselves our natural state of being, we withhold the freedom to be who we are from ourselves. It takes great effort to deny who we are and enslave ourselves to our perceived lack of peace. Lack can only be imposed by our disbelief in our true selves. We must share all we have with each other to fully realize what we have. We are created free and given all that is true and real. Do we choose to align our minds with peace or separation? Peace is ours for the choosing. The alternative is to lose peace and feel that we lack what we already have. Allow Spirit to guide your mind.   We have nothing to lose but imprisonment, and everything to gain. Allow Spirit to guide us all to the place of peace within us. This is our destiny.

June 24, 2014

Every time we meet someone, remember it is a holy encounter. From the briefest glance to the most involved relationship it is always a holy encounter. As we see that One, we see ourselves. As we treat that One, we treat ourselves. As we think of that One, we think of ourselves. Do we recognize the Child of God in each encounter? If we do, we also recognize the Child of God we ourselves are. If not, we deny both of us our true Identity as a Child of God. In each encounter we either find our true Identity or lose it. Even the slightest glance is an opportunity at salvation. Salvation is the shift to the recognition and the awareness of who we really are. Do not allow an encounter to pass without extending and receiving Love. It is the key to our happiness.

Yes, we are already and always have been whole. But are we living our wholeness? Do we allow ourselves to consciously radiate and extend Love. There is no greater demonstration of Love than extending it to each and every one we encounter. For that means we know Love within ourselves. A gentle smile will be on our face and in our eyes. Our step will be a bit lighter. Peace will radiate from us. This is God’s Will. And this is also our Will. We are the agents of the healing of our minds in this world. Our smile heals. Our gentle loving glance heals. Our gentle loving word of greeting heals. Our gentle loving thoughts of each other heal. We allow the loving radiance of Heaven to shower over each and every one we meet. We are each the light of the world and each encounter is the opportunity to recognize it in each other and in ourselves. This recognition is salvation. It recognizes the wholeness within all others and ourselves.

Begin by learning that we are light. There is great joy in this learning. We have denied this light that we are. We have taught ourselves that we could not be that limitless. We have learned to think of ourselves in the limited way of separation and it may seem impossible that we could be anything more. But Spirit is given us to make this seemingly impossible shift in our thinking. Spirit is a gentle teacher. Spirit gently takes us by the hand and guides our thoughts as we allow. The willingness to learn is our choice. Each step involves keeping our thoughts on Spirit and allowing It to guide us on our way. Spirit will guide us in each holy encounter. We will feel the comfort of Spirit as we take each step and trust Spirit’s guidance. Peace will rise up in our mind. A knowing that we are connected to and a part of the energy of love and compassion springs up within our mind as we allow Spirit to guide us. We need not convince anyone of anything. The idea of wholeness will quietly flow between our gentle loving glances and gentle kind greeting in each holy encounter. That One will move on with an uplifted mind even in that brief encounter. They will feel somehow that they have received Love in their mind whether or not they recognize it. Let every encounter today be a holy encounter. Let the light you are shine in everything you do. And each encounter will certainly be a holy encounter.

June 17, 2014

We have taught ourselves that freedom and imprisonment are the same. What does that mean? How could we possibly think imprisonment and freedom are the same? Let’s put it another way. We have taught ourselves to believe that real freedom, the Will of God, Imprisons or limits us. We believe It limits who and what we are. The Will of God, which is also our Will for we are created by and share the Will of God, is real freedom and limitlessness. We have mistakenly taught ourselves that real freedom is imprisonment in an effort to establish an identity separate from our true identity. We have aligned our minds with the idea that the Will of God, our own will, limits who we are when the total opposite is true.

The Will of God, which is our own Will since it is completely shared, is limitless. It is all powerful, infinite and totally loving. There is nothing real that can threaten that Will. The most we ca do is block our awareness of Its limitless love and power. Those blocks are ideas and thoughts that we choose to believe. Because we have free will, we are free to think and believe whatever we choose to think and believe whether or not the idea is correct. Aligning our minds with ideas that are incorrect or in conflict with Truth creates a block to the truth and knowledge that is in conflict with the incorrect idea. It is impossible to believe two conflicting ideas at the same time. Our true mind knows the difference, and we never leave our true Will, but we block our awareness of our true identity and therefore think we are separate. The Holy Spirit is our guide back. The Course is the method Spirit uses to help us change our mind and the way we think.

The Course tells us:

“The Will of God is without limit, and all power and glory lie within it. It is boundless in strength and in love and in peace. It has no boundaries because its extension is unlimited, and it encompasses all things because it created all things. By creating all things, it made them part of itself. You are the Will of God because that is how you were created. Because your Creator creates only like the Creator, you are like the Creator. You are part of the One Who is all power and glory, and are therefore as unlimited as the One is.” (T-8.II.7.1-7)

Spirit appeals to us to restore our awareness of the power and peace of the Realm of Heaven to our minds. Spirit asks us to simply acknowledge who and what we really are and the Realm which is our true home. By our recognition, our belief of and alignment with our true shared Will, we awaken the minds of all Creation and through theirs our awakening of our awareness is extended. This is the natural response of the One Child of God to the Voice for the Creator. The confusion of imprisonment and freedom is resolved. For we are the essence of freedom and limitlessness. Let go of your alignment with your mistaken beliefs that hold you captive and allow Spirit to gently guide you to the freedom in the awareness of who you really are.